Is this a neoliberal privatizing plan that will punish the working and middleclass in effect pricing them Out of the cities? I do not think or feel that this is a true solution to our real infrastructure
problems which CP does not address. My first take on this pricing idea was that it would eventually be made fair in it's pricing towards those who cannot afford it and those who work in the city but by virtue of low wages have to live in outlying suburbs(not getting any cheaper to live here either) and commute by auto. Past plans for Public Transportation were shelved in the last 30 years which would have enabled mass transit to expand along with the suburban growth. It required vision and political will as well as investment and in the 70's we were broke and Reagan further weakened it as his ideologues started dismantling OUR Public Health, Public Transportation, Public Utility and Public Education infrastructures. We make a serious investment in not only repairing infrastructure that is seriously deficient but improving and expanding Mass Transit that would enable people being able to commute from out where I live and it will create many more high skill high wage jobs right here that are now being outsourced and it will reduce the fossil fuel burning vehicles coming in to the city. Autos and Trucks that are Commercially registered and eligible would need to pass stricter Cafe mileage and emmisions standards and that would do far more to alleviate the particulate that causes respiratory reactions like COPD and Asthma than CP will.

Anthony,
You're right that congestion pricing will not solve all of NYC's infrastructure and transportation problems. But we think they will help, in part by raising money for exactly the kinds of mass transit investments you are suggesting, both for underserved neighborhoods in the city and in outlying suburban communities. We can't fund all of the transit investments we need this way -- additional public investment is needed -- but congestion pricing will provide a significant pool of needed funding. Stricter emissions standards, as you suggest, are also a good idea for reducing air pollution, and imposing them is perfectly compatible with (and complementary to) implementing congestion pricing. As for the broader types of infrastructure investment you're talking about, from public education to public health, a small proposal like congestion pricing can't solve those problems, but neither, I think, is it part of the problem. The Reagan-era (and continuing) defunding of the public good is something we need to fight against on many levels, and DMI is a part of that fight.